Emily Gates is known not only as a inspirational community member and role model for young women and girls, but also as one of the most respected and beloved chorus and musical theater teachers in Northern California. Born and educated in Ohio, Ms. Gates married her high school sweetheart and began a music teaching career which continued through the birth of four children, a move to California, and twenty years of teaching music in the Novato Unified School District. She currently teaches Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, Show Choir and Musical Theater Workshop at San Marin High School. Ms. Gates serves as a board member and Jazz Show Choir Repertoire Standards Chair of the American Choral Directors’ Association, has hosted choral festivals and given workshops for the California Music Educators’ Association, and is a member of the Novato Music Educators’ Conference, the California Band Directors Association and the International Association of Jazz Educators.

Ms. Gates has assembled and coached innumerable musical groups that have achieved regional and state awards. She counts her real rewards through the achievements of her former students in the musical and theatrical fields, many of whom attribute to her the awakening of their talent.